Morning Briefing: Extend TC now!

FIRST PITCH: Give him the extension already. And how about a key to the city for Terry Collins, too?

Collins acknowledged after presiding over a Subway Series sweep that the Mets recently had started to lose hope. The despair left him to try the last thing in his managerial playbook -- the reprimand of job loss to his players -- to try to turn things around.

Adam RubinMets PR man Jay Horwitz put on orange and blue sneakers Sunday. Five games -- and five wins -- later, he keeps wearing them to work each day.

Now, the Mets are on a five-game winning streak, albeit still seven games under .500 and nine games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

But maybe, just maybe, the Mets (22-29) can make things interesting. Six of their next nine games come against the woeful, Giancarlo Stanton-less Miami Marlins.

It was a good [Yankees] run, and now it's over after the Mets exposed their Bronx buddies this week in every way imaginable, capped by Thursday night's 3-1 win at the Stadium. They outpitched the Yankees, outhit them and, as an added bonus, even beat Mariano Rivera before he could register an out in Tuesday night's dramatic finish.

Not bad for a Mets team that was 11 games below .500 when this home-and-home Subway Series began Monday. Back then, Terry Collins would have signed up for a split in a heartbeat. Even Jeff Wilpon, after winning the Citi Field opener, pulled a Joe Biden and mistakenly conceded the rest of the season in a pregame fete for Rivera.

It was an embarrassing slip. But by Thursday night, with a sweep complete, it was the Mets who enjoyed the last laugh.

Collins said Zack Wheeler was not a consideration for Niese’s turn. Left unsaid is that the Mets are waiting until after the Super 2 deadline to promote Wheeler. The June 14-16 home series against the Chicago Cubs may be a realistic estimate for Wheeler’s major league debut.

On Wheeler, Las Vegas manager Wally Backman told Newsday: "This kid's ready. He's ready to pitch in the big leagues. I personally believe that. His stuff definitely plays. It's a matter of when the organization feels he's ready to go there. … Once that blister went away, we've really seen what Zack is really all about. He threw four starts in a row where it looked like a big-league guy throwing to high school kids at times. …

“I can remember Matt [Harvey] last year coming into the office when he threw two or three great starts and saying, 'When the [heck] am I going to the big leagues?' I said, 'Hey, just keep putting up zeros and they've gotta make a decision.' It was an everyday thing with him. Zack's a little more laid back than Matt, but the competitiveness is definitely there."

“I would like to see him play every day,” Cano told Anthony McCarron in the Daily News about Valdespin. “I guarantee he’d do a good job. He loves this game. He’d have good numbers. He’s got power. He’s a contact hitter. He swings hard, but he might learn. The more you play, the more you learn what situations to use a long swing or swing for a homer or go the other way. It’s easier when you play every day. …

“Sometimes you’ve got to calm down a little bit. But that’s the way he plays the game. [Nick] Swisher, too, plays the same way, with a lot of energy, always laughing. When you’re on the other side, you might say, ‘Who does this guy [Swisher] think he is?’ But when you’re with him on the same team, you know what kind of guy he is -- one of the great teammates you could ever have.”

• From the bloggers …Faith and Fear discovers sitting through four consecutive games versus the Yankees is nothing like pulling teeth. … John Delcos at Mets Report notes the Tejada decision resolved itself, which is often the case.

Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Adam Rubin

Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.

Mark Simon

Mark Simon is ESPN Stats & Information's Baseball Research Specialist. One of several Mets historians working at ESPN, he joined the Worldwide Leader in 2002 after 6 1/2 years as a sports writer at the Trenton Times.